Photographed by Megan Atwell
It was late afternoon on the last day of Charleston’s High Water Music Festival, and I had managed to claw my way to the very front of the General admission pit for the main stage. The air is hot, humid, and filled with energy. Behind me, stands a middle-aged Argentinian man who drove here from Florida next to him there’s a 20-something who flew in from California. To my left a tall college guy in a Japanese Breakfast T-shirt and to my right, a grey-haired woman sits on a cushion. She just flew in from seeing tonight’s band at a 3-night residency in Iceland. We’re all strangers in the truest sense of the word. Jammed together from different generations, backgrounds, states, and countries, but we were all there for the same reason. Wilco.
Wilco was the band I was most excited to see and my expectations were met, doubled, and multiplied by 10. The men of Wilco are all masters of their trade on an individual level. songwriter Jeff Tweedy and guitarist Nels Cline are frequently cited as generational greats in their respective fields but what makes Wilco so great live is what happens when they come together. Wilco, the band moves together as a 6 headed musical monster. They know each other’s strengths and communicate on a telepathic level, seamlessly moving through the setlist.
They opened with I Am My Mother from their 2022 album, Cruel Country. They played 4 other cuts from the new release while also giving their fans the classics they were hoping for. They followed up the album’s title track with fan favorite, Handshake Drugs. From that moment on the crowd was hooked. On the first of many guitar solos, Nels left the crowd in shambles. Everyone around me was hypnotized. I heard people gasp and laugh out loud. I found myself on multiple occasions holding my hands to my head mouth agape like a shocked cartoon character and I wasn’t the only one. For the classic, Jesus Etc., Wilco welcomed Pop Duo Lucius to the stage to add vocals and harmonies. It didn’t matter if you had loved the band for years or were just aware of a few songs. The friend I was standing with didn’t know a single song they played and in her own words, it didn’t matter. The set itself was a little over two hours long and I could’ve watched them for another 2. My first Wilco concert was an experience I will never forget. I hope I have the chance to see them again because it was truly one of the greatest performances I’ve ever seen.
